Breaking: SCBA President Dushyant Dave resigns [Update]

Differences within the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) involving President Dushyant Dave and the Secretary Gaurav Bhatia has led to the resignation of the SCBA President..The rift between Dave and SCBA Secretary Gaurav Bhatia had come to light when Dave had absented himself from the farewell function of Justice MY Eqbal. This had led Chief Justice Thakur to open up about the same, expressing hope that things would be resolved soon..However, that was not to be..Dushyant Dave has resigned from the post of the SCBA President with immediate effect, along with a “sincere apology” to all those who had “put their faith” in the senior counsel..Below is the text of Dave’s resignation letter..Dear Friends, .I hereby tender my resignation as the President of the SCBA with immediate effect. I must place on record my gratitude to all those who put their faith in me and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I must however tender my sincere apology for taking this step. I hope and trust you will understand my predicament. I wish the SCBA lots of good luck and assure that as a Member I will always be happy to extend my help if needed. .With Warmest Regards to each of you, .Dushyant Dave .It is understood that Dave took this step after his actions were met with disapproval from the SCBA’s Executive Committee. It appears that the bone of contention was maintaining a register “in memory” of retiring judges, where people could write about the particular judge. Although Dave was against this idea, he had proposed that the idea be considered by the executive committee during today’s meeting..Instead, Bhatia went ahead with the plan to “initiate process of maintaining Register”, a move that Dave says was “against the ethos” of the SCBA’s executive committee. In response, our sources say that the plan to maintain a register was circulated within the committee, with around fifteen committee members approving the same..The EC in its meeting today condemned Dave for publishing a letter he had written to Secretary Gaurav Bhatia and the Executive Committee. According to our sources, Dave was also condemned for writing a letter to the SCBA staff asking them not to take instructions from the Secretary..A source close to the development told Bar & Bench that the rift between the President and the Secretary started in the last EC meeting. Bhatia moved a proposal to get in writing from the Secretary General of the Supreme Court the number of chambers that would be available to lawyers in the newly constructed complex in Appu Ghar. It is understood that Dave dissented and asked for this proposal to be removed from the agenda list. However, Bhatia went ahead and circulated this proposal with 17 – 18 members of the EC voting in favour of the proposal.